Giving myself permission to have a "bad" first draft was a game changer for me! I'd consider myself a fast writer, but I was paralyzed when I first started writing my book because I felt that everything I wrote was terrible. I'd look at all the books on my shelf and think my writing didn't measure up. Love your message about just start putting words on the page and turn away from perfectionism: all of your favorite books have gone through rounds upon rounds of edits & revisions. Loved your insights here ✨
I relate so hard to your opinion on cyberpunk as a genre being a marvelous outlet for commentary on those issues, that's why I've been so obsessed with the genre since I was young and I agree, it definitely deserves more exploration!!!
was making linguine when i got the notif for this vid and dropped my tongs lol the stuff you said about authenticity and interrogating gatsby as it relates to cyberpunk as a genre made me really excited! when you talked about having reimagined nick from a Filipino-American’s perspective and being ‘conditionally allowed a seat at the table’ i was like “wow so thats what i’ve been feeling all this time”. i find a lot of anger there-and i do think lots of diaspora bipoc people will relate to that feeling. so incredibly thoughtful and authentic and i haven’t even read this yet 😭 so thank you !!
Changing my goals from external to internal goals gave me the courage to pursue writing in the first place. This year I have always been a writer and loved creative writing but never saw it as something that "I" could do because of the external goals I was chasing. when I sat back and looked at the life I desired and one I would be proud of I decided ultimately it matters more to myself and will be more beneficial to others to follow my heart.
I think upon re-reading The Great Gatsby this time around, it really opened my eyes to why you’d want to pursue a re-telling and how the themes are so blatantly compatible with the cyberpunk genre. And writing it from a post American dream POV ? honestly genius. I have so many thoughts ? so many questions ?? so many feelings ??? I’m so intrigued at what a spectator like Nick would look like in a cyberpunk world. So many things you talked about in this video resonated with me, but what you said about your re-imagined Nick being “conditionally allowed access into rich white spaces” and “working the system just to be able to have a seat at the table” Wow, you really hit the nail on the head. Centralising the issues and themes in The Great Gatsby, through the eyes of a queer poc character is such a refreshing and cathartic take, like I’m already amazed by your brain !! I loove hearing about the process behind Local Heavens. I genuinely think this book would change my life 😭
Atmospheric blueing is a term I learned in watercolor class that refers to the phenomenon of things like mountains appearing bluer the further away they are. I think describing the garden as blue implies a sense of distance.
all of the answers here as so wise, absolutely adored this video esp. in regards to the question about authenticity in retellings. having been lucky enough to read LH, your voice and viewpoint shine through so brilliantly and it's SUCH an authentic story (whatever that means)-you really had something to say and I adore it!!
i love all of your advice! if you could, can you talk a little about how you find ideas?? it’s so weird but i feel like i’m ready and have the right headspace to get back into writing, but have absolutely no ideas lol. head so empty
16:03 These days whenever I think of moths, I think either of Silence of the Lambs or of Lynn D. Jung's project right now. My brain just won't go straight to happy butterfly images like a normal person would. It's a recurring theme that words by themselves have become an abstraction.
I thought that the question of "authenticity" and your response was very interesting. We've lived in this post-copyright/trademark world our entire lives, so we've forgotten that the concept of owning an idea is (historically speaking) a relatively recent one. And the concept of there being a "definitive" version of an idea has really only been a thing for as long as the written word has been easily accessible. Like in classical Japanese literature, when works were being copied (by hand because pre-printing press), copiers would just straight up change words or even (possibly) entire sentences because they were like "This sounds good, but it'd be better if it was this way." Classic works like The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book each have like three or four extant versions of them, and we don't know for sure which version is closest to what was originally written 1000 years ago. And we'll never know (and I guess it doesn't really matter outside of speculation). But anyway, tangent aside, from what I've seen and heard about your story thus far, this seems to be very authentically you. To an extent, no matter what we write, we're all just retelling bits and pieces of stories that have already been told before. So long as we express it in a way that feels authentic to ourselves, I suppose that's all that really matters.
i agree! every story is in some ways a retelling of the stories we’ve consumed before. and i think there’s something really special about our relationship w/ “classics” evolving through time
Wow, another great video. Thanks for your insights! From what I'm hearing, Nick seems to have been a rewarding character to write, especially in conjunction with the 'louder' personalities in the Gatsby cast. It makes me curious to know, when you are brainstorming these personalities, how do you go about planning them in your outlining doc? Is it more of a list of traits and tropes that you flesh out in detail? I do that very thing to plan and usually think my characters are more grocery lists than people. (Ugh.) Anyhow, I adore hearing about Local Heavens. I'm glad you liked my idea for sharing an outline! (:
i usually don’t “brainstorm” personalities too much! thats one thing where the details just come together once i’m actually writing. i brainstorm more like, who a character is at the start of the book and how they change by the end of it. for personality, i just make a note or two about what their general demeanour is/how people perceive them!
LONG question, very sorry (tl;dr this is about weighing specificity vs. accuracy): When you talk about specificity the way that you did with that passage from Gatsby, are you worrying at all about accuracy too? Because it took me a minute to both see why that is accurate, AND why it could be seen as inaccurate. In one sense, the blue of the gardens makes me think flowers, rather than the grasses, etc. So, accuracy. In another sense, someone, not seeing flowers (somehow) might be like “gardens are green…” Maybe not a great example, but I worry that if I get too abstract (i.e. the feeling of how a thing looks, what tangential thing it reminds the narrator/me-the-author of), it won’t translate, and it’ll be looked at as inaccurate. In yet another way, i have a physical disability, and so I don’t understand the nuances of how a person walks, for instance. So if I get the language of that wrong/inaccurate, is it even worse to default to figurative imagery? Or is that a cheat I can use to evoke what I MEAN TO CONVEY. (The alternate of this is that I’ve almost never seen a character in a wheelchair depicted by way of action beats. What do I do with that? Make it up? Go off vibes?)
i don't think of "accuracy" when considering figurative language. sometimes it really is about conveying the atmosphere and "vibe" of a moment rather than being realistic. but descriptions require balance -- i.e. having enough details that ground the reader, so that when you do dip into more abstract language, the reader doesn't get lost. this is a lot to do with writing style and voice though, and probably needs specific examples to explain better. in my experience, a good beta reader should help you figure out when your language isn't making sense. when i'm actually writing, i just try not to overthink it. i write what makes sense *to me* and worry about everything else in revision. same thing for writing outside of lived experience. a beta reader can help catch things that might be inaccurate, help you add nuance, etc.
Hmmm...what you said abo8t what your book is about, corporate greed etc and the last few tyears. Are you " awake?" I am and I'm writing a sci fi about similiar sounding themes
I love this video! I especially love the way you talk about Nick as a character and how you’re approaching the retelling as an OwnVoices story. I’m not super familiar with cyberpunk, but as an older millennial, I’m definitely familiar with the horrors of capitalism. It’s been wonderful to watch your journey with LOCAL HEAVENS and your growth as a writer! I hope an editor snaps it right up! Good luck on sub! I’m also subscribed to your Substack. Looking forward to more updates. I’m querying again in a few months, so thank you for all the helpful tips! 💜🩵🥰
![Write Your Life And Become A Better Storyteller - Mark W Travis [FULL INTERVIEW]](/img/n.gif)
Giving myself permission to have a "bad" first draft was a game changer for me! I'd consider myself a fast writer, but I was paralyzed when I first started writing my book because I felt that everything I wrote was terrible. I'd look at all the books on my shelf and think my writing didn't measure up. Love your message about just start putting words on the page and turn away from perfectionism: all of your favorite books have gone through rounds upon rounds of edits & revisions. Loved your insights here ✨
i still struggle with this even now!! it’s hard not to edit as you go 🥲
Truly, a lot of my drafted chapter endings feel like very telly wrap ups and that’s okay because in future drafts I will buff them up and make better
I relate so hard to your opinion on cyberpunk as a genre being a marvelous outlet for commentary on those issues, that's why I've been so obsessed with the genre since I was young and I agree, it definitely deserves more exploration!!!
was making linguine when i got the notif for this vid and dropped my tongs lol
the stuff you said about authenticity and interrogating gatsby as it relates to cyberpunk as a genre made me really excited! when you talked about having reimagined nick from a Filipino-American’s perspective and being ‘conditionally allowed a seat at the table’ i was like “wow so thats what i’ve been feeling all this time”. i find a lot of anger there-and i do think lots of diaspora bipoc people will relate to that feeling. so incredibly thoughtful and authentic and i haven’t even read this yet 😭 so thank you !!
Changing my goals from external to internal goals gave me the courage to pursue writing in the first place. This year I have always been a writer and loved creative writing but never saw it as something that "I" could do because of the external goals I was chasing. when I sat back and looked at the life I desired and one I would be proud of I decided ultimately it matters more to myself and will be more beneficial to others to follow my heart.
I think upon re-reading The Great Gatsby this time around, it really opened my eyes to why you’d want to pursue a re-telling and how the themes are so blatantly compatible with the cyberpunk genre. And writing it from a post American dream POV ? honestly genius. I have so many thoughts ? so many questions ?? so many feelings ??? I’m so intrigued at what a spectator like Nick would look like in a cyberpunk world.
So many things you talked about in this video resonated with me, but what you said about your re-imagined Nick being “conditionally allowed access into rich white spaces” and “working the system just to be able to have a seat at the table” Wow, you really hit the nail on the head. Centralising the issues and themes in The Great Gatsby, through the eyes of a queer poc character is such a refreshing and cathartic take, like I’m already amazed by your brain !!
I loove hearing about the process behind Local Heavens. I genuinely think this book would change my life 😭
🥹💛💛💛
Atmospheric blueing is a term I learned in watercolor class that refers to the phenomenon of things like mountains appearing bluer the further away they are. I think describing the garden as blue implies a sense of distance.
Or infers; I have no idea 🙈
interesting!! i never thought about it like that but that makes a lot of sense
all of the answers here as so wise, absolutely adored this video esp. in regards to the question about authenticity in retellings. having been lucky enough to read LH, your voice and viewpoint shine through so brilliantly and it's SUCH an authentic story (whatever that means)-you really had something to say and I adore it!!
tysm lynn!!! 🥹💛💛
i love all of your advice! if you could, can you talk a little about how you find ideas?? it’s so weird but i feel like i’m ready and have the right headspace to get back into writing, but have absolutely no ideas lol. head so empty
16:03 These days whenever I think of moths, I think either of Silence of the Lambs or of Lynn D. Jung's project right now. My brain just won't go straight to happy butterfly images like a normal person would. It's a recurring theme that words by themselves have become an abstraction.
i think of lynn too nowadays lol. i'm not sure i ever saw it as "happy" in this context. more careless and intoxicated
That too.
will to live restored, new kris video just dropped 😫🤘🏼✨
😭😭
I thought that the question of "authenticity" and your response was very interesting. We've lived in this post-copyright/trademark world our entire lives, so we've forgotten that the concept of owning an idea is (historically speaking) a relatively recent one. And the concept of there being a "definitive" version of an idea has really only been a thing for as long as the written word has been easily accessible.
Like in classical Japanese literature, when works were being copied (by hand because pre-printing press), copiers would just straight up change words or even (possibly) entire sentences because they were like "This sounds good, but it'd be better if it was this way." Classic works like The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book each have like three or four extant versions of them, and we don't know for sure which version is closest to what was originally written 1000 years ago. And we'll never know (and I guess it doesn't really matter outside of speculation).
But anyway, tangent aside, from what I've seen and heard about your story thus far, this seems to be very authentically you. To an extent, no matter what we write, we're all just retelling bits and pieces of stories that have already been told before. So long as we express it in a way that feels authentic to ourselves, I suppose that's all that really matters.
i agree! every story is in some ways a retelling of the stories we’ve consumed before. and i think there’s something really special about our relationship w/ “classics” evolving through time
I liked that line you pointed out too, when you read the paragraph, before yousingled out that particular line
Thank you for posting a video. It's always appreciated, hearing more about the journey.
🎉🎉🎉
ngl you had me at queer fil-am protagonist in a cyberpunk setting-
I enjoyed this so much! Thank you for sharing your journey and such wise advice ❤ also you are so eloquent and well spoken it always impresses me sm
This was such a good video. I really appreciate your insightful and thoughtful responses to all of the questions, a lot of it really resonated.
i'm so glad!! thanks for watching✨
Wow, another great video. Thanks for your insights! From what I'm hearing, Nick seems to have been a rewarding character to write, especially in conjunction with the 'louder' personalities in the Gatsby cast. It makes me curious to know, when you are brainstorming these personalities, how do you go about planning them in your outlining doc? Is it more of a list of traits and tropes that you flesh out in detail? I do that very thing to plan and usually think my characters are more grocery lists than people. (Ugh.)
Anyhow, I adore hearing about Local Heavens. I'm glad you liked my idea for sharing an outline! (:
i usually don’t “brainstorm” personalities too much! thats one thing where the details just come together once i’m actually writing. i brainstorm more like, who a character is at the start of the book and how they change by the end of it. for personality, i just make a note or two about what their general demeanour is/how people perceive them!
Does Fitzgerald describe the garden as blue because it's night time? Idk if it is night at that scene, but greenery can look blue at night.
yeah maybe :) i like that interpretation
LONG question, very sorry (tl;dr this is about weighing specificity vs. accuracy):
When you talk about specificity the way that you did with that passage from Gatsby, are you worrying at all about accuracy too? Because it took me a minute to both see why that is accurate, AND why it could be seen as inaccurate. In one sense, the blue of the gardens makes me think flowers, rather than the grasses, etc. So, accuracy. In another sense, someone, not seeing flowers (somehow) might be like “gardens are green…”
Maybe not a great example, but I worry that if I get too abstract (i.e. the feeling of how a thing looks, what tangential thing it reminds the narrator/me-the-author of), it won’t translate, and it’ll be looked at as inaccurate.
In yet another way, i have a physical disability, and so I don’t understand the nuances of how a person walks, for instance. So if I get the language of that wrong/inaccurate, is it even worse to default to figurative imagery? Or is that a cheat I can use to evoke what I MEAN TO CONVEY. (The alternate of this is that I’ve almost never seen a character in a wheelchair depicted by way of action beats. What do I do with that? Make it up? Go off vibes?)
i don't think of "accuracy" when considering figurative language. sometimes it really is about conveying the atmosphere and "vibe" of a moment rather than being realistic. but descriptions require balance -- i.e. having enough details that ground the reader, so that when you do dip into more abstract language, the reader doesn't get lost. this is a lot to do with writing style and voice though, and probably needs specific examples to explain better.
in my experience, a good beta reader should help you figure out when your language isn't making sense. when i'm actually writing, i just try not to overthink it. i write what makes sense *to me* and worry about everything else in revision. same thing for writing outside of lived experience. a beta reader can help catch things that might be inaccurate, help you add nuance, etc.
Hmmm...what you said abo8t what your book is about, corporate greed etc and the last few tyears. Are you " awake?" I am and I'm writing a sci fi about similiar sounding themes
I love this video! I especially love the way you talk about Nick as a character and how you’re approaching the retelling as an OwnVoices story. I’m not super familiar with cyberpunk, but as an older millennial, I’m definitely familiar with the horrors of capitalism. It’s been wonderful to watch your journey with LOCAL HEAVENS and your growth as a writer! I hope an editor snaps it right up! Good luck on sub! I’m also subscribed to your Substack. Looking forward to more updates. I’m querying again in a few months, so thank you for all the helpful tips! 💜🩵🥰